Acheulean Hand-axe

Acheulean hand-axes were made by our ancestors, homo erectus, as long as 1.76 million years ago and used until around 130,000 years ago. They are found over a large geographic range, including parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The tools are thought to be multipurpose and were likely used to cut wood, butcher animals, and dig roots—thus have been referred to as the original Swiss Army Knife. The name Acheulean comes from Saint-Acheul, a suburb of the town of Amiens in the north of France, where the tools were identified in 1859. This one at the @denvermuseumns is from Saudi Arabia and is roughly 500,000 years old!

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